"So, where are we now?" Alexia asked, looking around. "'Cause I've haven't the faintest idea."
After leaving Bree, the three had landed in a small town. The creepy part was an eerie silence surrounding them, leaving the imagination free to fill in the gaps, especially for girls who had recently found out you were supposed to be deathly afraid of the dark. As it would happen, Moppet turned and saw two shadows crossing. She paled.
"VASHTA NERADA!" She screamed, running headfirst into a wall.
Lane didn't speak. Her eyes were wide. She looked at everything before upward and froze before backing into a street post. "No..." She whispered before clutching her head and doubling over.
"Lane! Are you alright?" Alexia asked, running to her side.
"Here comes the chopper. Chop, chop, chop." Lane whimpered, her eyes boring into Alexia's. "The little girl hides in the corner, scared. The doctor came. Medicine. The girl is better. Not now."
"What are you saying?" Moppet insisted, her voice scared.
"She runs away. From the others." Lane answered, closing her eyes. "They run for her. She runs faster. Faster and faster and faster. They never catch her."
"Who are you talking about?" Alexia cried.
"The broken girl. Broken, broken, broken..." Lane trailed off before opening her eyes. "Um, what's going on?"
Alexia tried to maintain a calm face. Failing that, she straightened. "Lane, what's the last thing you can remember?"
"Landing here." She replied simply.
"That's it." Alexia dug into her pocket and pulled out a handful of pills. "Eat these, now. You need strong meds."
"Medicine." Lane slipped back for a moment. "They hurt, but no one cares." Shaking her head, Lane took the pills. "Sorry, blanked for a second."
"Okay..." Alexia wasn't convinced but at the moment didn't know what to do.
"Hey!" A girl and boy came up from behind, frowning. "Don't you know it's dangerous to be around at night?"
"How should we know-" Alexia looked up and groaned. "The moon. Is in. The atmosphere. God, tell me the sun isn't."
"Of course it is. Don't worry, it just yells at you sometimes, not burny or anything... Um, please ignore it when it laughs though..." Lane said offhandedly.
Alexia smacked her forehead. "Good-bye physics... Wait, Lane, you're normal again!"
Lane looked at her strangely. "Why not? I'm totally fine."
"Err, are you guys okay?" The girl asked.
"Yeah Maka, don't worry!" Lane beamed.
"How do you know my name?!" Maka asked.
"You're really famous!" Alexia blurted out. Lane looked confused for a moment but let it slide.
"Oh. Well, I'm Maka as you already know, and this is Soul." Maka gestured to the boy slumping next to her. "So, where are you from?"
"It's complicated." Moppet, by this time, had realized saying 'Ninjago' was just asking for trouble.
"If you don't have a place to stay, you can board with me and Soul." Maka offered.
"WHAT?! Maka, you're inviting people we don't know or ever met to live with us?!" Soul yelled.
"Baka! They know us!" Maka fired back.
"Um, so do you! I'm Lane, this is Alexia, and the younger one is my sister Moppet!" Lane said quickly to avoid a fight.
"See? They're nice. Now shut up!" Maka said, clapping her hands.
"What about the Anniversary dance? We can't leave them in our apartment!" Soul protested.
"We could come with you." Alexia offered, not noticing Lane's suddenly pale face.
"There! Everything's solved!" Maka told Soul triumphantly.
"Ugh, but if they do something bad, I'm blaming you." Soul muttered, stomping off.
Maka showed the girls to the apartment. Alexia decided to let Moppet catch a break and let her have the couch while she and Lane slept on the floor.
Later...
Lane awoke to the smell of cooking. Sprinting up, she ran into the kitchen, finding Maka at the stove with pancakes.
"Good morning! Want some?" Maka offered Lane a plate. After a quick inspection for smoke, Lane took the plate, putting a rolled pancake in her mouth to eat while she sat down.
Maka laughed. "You're just like Soul. Always hungry."
"So, you like him?" Lane asked, swallowing. Maka froze.
"No!" She said a bit too quickly. "I mean, what makes you think that?"
"The fact you denied it without thinking, fought with him like you were a couple, and laughed happily at thinking about him. All signs." Lane said, patting her on head. "So good luck!"
After a moment, Maka sighed. "You've been through this?"
Lane became stiff, and was thankful she was turned away from Maka. "Yes. He's gone now."
"Oh." Maka said, amusing he'd found someone else. "Well, can you wake up the others?"
Nodding, Lane wordlessly woke her friend and sister. After failing to wake Soul, Alexia took a bucket of cold water and dumped it on him.
"AGH! What the fuck was that for?!" Soul asked.
"For the fact if you don't hurry, Moppet will eat all the pancakes." Alexia answered.
"Cool guys don't wake up before noon- WAIT, WHAT?!" Soul ran out of his room. "GIVE ME THOSE PANCAKES!" There was a girly scream following.
"D'you think that was Moppet?" Alexia asked.
"We've been on a ship with five boys our age or younger for months. That was Soul, because Moppet has learned to defend her food." Lane answered.
Sure enough, when they re-entered the kitchen, Soul was sulking, as he only had two pancakes on his plate. "Maka-san, please make some more pancakes!" He pleaded, turning to her.
"Why don't you kiss her cheek and she'll make come more?" Lane said sweetly.
Maka turned red and Soul's jaw dropped. "What?!"
"You heard her." Alexia said, smiling. Soul groaned but pecked Maka's cheek who blushed even harder if possible. Regaining herself, she pulled out a plate of pancakes from the oven.
"You were right Lane. I did need these." Maka laughed nervously, trying to relieve the tension. Soul grabbed the plate, devouring them.
"So, what's this about an anniversary dance?" Alexia asked, leaning against the wall.
"We have one to celebrate the founding of our school." Maka explained. "It's custom to go with your partner, though."
"That's okay. We'll be fine." Lane said warily. Please don't happen, please don't happen.
"It's in a few hours. I'll help you get ready." Maka said, smiling. Lane tensed, hating the idea of wearing a 'monkey suit'.
A few hours later...
The small group entered the hall. Everything was in full swing. Soul wore a plain suit, while Maka wore a deep purple dress with pink lace at the bottom.
Thankfully, the other girls had been able to choose their own outfit (or for Moppet, have Lane choose it). Alexia wore a long black dress that hid her shoes (sneakers), Lane in a floor length gray gown, and Moppet was wearing a light blue sundress down to her knees. Moppet bounced around happily, talking to a strange, tall man in a white skull mask and black cloak.
"Uh, who's that?" Alexia muttered to Maka.
"Oh, that's our headmaster, Lord Death." Maka answered.
Alexia face-palmed. "And he's talking to a twelve year-old?"
"He's good with kids." Maka said simply, going off with Soul.
Lane and Alexia stayed at the edge of the hall, trying to stay unnoticed. Unfortunately, Maka talked about them to her classmates, so a few boys came to talk with them. They were swiftly driven away by a few death stares.
"So, like I asked earlier, where are we?" Alexia asked, leaning her head against the wall.
"Soul Eater. Don't worry, it's one of the tamer episodes-" Lane's lie was quickly interrupted by a coffins rising, encasing them. Falling into a void, they landed on a hard floor, groaning.
"One of the tamer episodes, rrrrright. That's a load of shit." Alexia growled.
"It would be if we'd stayed in the room." Lane whimpered, laying down face first on the floor.
"Are you guys okay?" Maka came running up, worried.
"Fine. There's a reason I kept my normal clothes on." Alexia slipped off her dress, revealing a black short-sleeved shirt and jeans.
"And I brought some." Lane held up a bundle, which she quickly used.
"Sis?" Moppet popped out of some rubble, scared.
"You okay, Miss-Mops-A-Lot?" Lane asked.
"Yeah. But I've only got this dress!" Moppet said, pouting.
"Hey!" A group of people looked at them. "How'd you get down here?"
"Coffins." Lane answered, struggling.
"That's strange." A man with patched lab coat said. "It must have been accidental. Well, you'd best get out of here, it's not safe."
"See, that's when we stay doofus." Alexia whipped out her sword.
"Fine. Let your head be on it." The group traveled downward, Maka's father joining them.
A woman stepped out of the shadows, a purple veil surrounding her. The man in the lab coat gave them instructions (first being that Alexia, Lane and Moppet would stay but it succeeded in only having Moppet at the edge of the fighting). It ended being Alexia and Lane with Maka and Kid. It worked, until Maka stayed behind to fight with Demon Sword.
"Will she be alright?" Alexia asked.
"She'll be fine." Lane grunted, holding her head.
"Um, what about you?" Alexia was worried.
"Don't worry about me, worry about getting out of here!" Lane hissed, struggling on.
When they came to a hall of bombs, Kid dropped to the ground until Alexia slapped him. "Get your ass up! We're going!" She and Lane climbed on to Kid's skateboard, blasting through.
Eventually, they stopped, and Alexia looked at Kid. "Something wrong?"
"I can sense the Afreet wavelength." He told her.
Lane gasped, falling over. Alexia knelt by her, scared. "Lane, snap out of it!"
"Tick tock, went the clock / The doctors changed her head. Tick tock, went the clock / She wishes she were dead." Lane sang softly.
"I don't have time for this!" Kid connected his guns, firing at a werewolf who appeared, but the shot didn't seem to do a thing. "No! Not even my Death Cannon works?!"
"Keep him busy!" Alexia told him. Kid complied, fighting it, joined by Black Star.
Alexia and Lane hurried on, but it was clear Lane was having problems. She was barely keeping pace with Alexia, more often than not stopping. Her chest was heaving as she breathed, and after running down the corridor for some time Lane collapsed, barely rising after before she swayed uncertainly. Alexia ran back, but Lane had fallen again, curling up into a ball and rocking.
"Go on. I can't." Lane insisted.
"I'm not going on without you. I'll be crushed and you'll be a sitting duck." Alexia fired back. "I don't care if I have to carry you!"
Slowly, Lane rose and they continued on, joined by Kid and Black Star. But even with their help, the young girl made it to the bag, injecting the black blood. "No!" Kid and Black Star yelled.
The bag stretched, forming around the body within. It rose slowly, testing itself. Both Kid and Black Star attacked, but they were thrown away. "We've got to help them!" Alexia shouted, looking at Lane before she stopped. "Lane?..."
Lane was on the ground, clutching her head. After a moment she rose, giggling. "Hi, I'm Lane. I think it's time for you to die."
"Oh no." Alexia backed up, terrified. Maka came in, only to find Lane giggling.
"What's wrong with Lane?" Maka asked.
"This happened before. Who is that guy?" Alexia asked.
"That's the god of insanity." Maka explained, and Alexia paled.
Lane paid them no mind. She walked up to Asura, smiling and giggling. The god of insanity also smiled. "Who are you little girl?" asked Asura as he reached for Lane's soul.
A crack rang through the room as Lane broke his arm, and stepped up closer to get a good look at his face.
"Thank you." Lane said. "I'm not scared now. I'm not in pain. I feel so... free!" Lane laughed manically again before stuffing her hand in Asura's chest. She pulled out his beating heart and laughed again, dropping it absently on the ground. Asura gasped before falling over, dead for the final time.
"You did it!" Black Star cried, but soon began to back away when Lane turned around. Her eyes were those of animals, and a wild light lit her face from within.
"Kill. Kill. Kill!" Lane said gleefully. "Chop, chop, chop!" Sprinting over faster than he could run, Lane grabbed at Black Star's neck. It snapped an instant later and Lane giggled joyfully.
"Black Star!" Tsubaki screamed, changing back to her human form, but she barely lasted a second before she followed Black Star into death.
"Die, die, die!" Lane shouted happily, shambling forward.
"Run!" Alexia shouted, sprinting down the tunnel. Kid and Maka stayed behind along with Eruka and Free, but within a minute all lay dead with Black Star and Tsubaki.
Alexia made it to the end of the maze where Franken Stein and Maka's father had finished fighting Medusa, Moppet at the edge of the room. "We need to get out of here now!" Alexia screamed, taking Moppet's hand.
"Why are you running?" Lane came out of the darkness where Alexia had come. "Don't you want to play?" She laughed again, her smile terrifying.
"Stay back! We'll take care of her!" Stein promised.
"Can you stop the person who defeated the god of insanity?!" Alexia asked.
"What?" Maka's father asked with his usual ignorant dimwittedness. He and Stein lasted longer than the others, but fell quickly like all the others.
Moppet whimpered, and Alexia held her tightly, hoping Lane would stop. She didn't, walking closer. "What's wrong? Isn't it time to die?" Lane asked.
"Lane, stop this now!" Alexia pleaded, but Lane didn't even pause. Then Moppet began to cry.
"S-stay away!" Moppet sobbed. Looking at her younger sister, Lane's eyes cleared. She stopped walking, and looked at her blood covered arms, then at Stein dead on the floor.
"I-I did that." She whispered. "What have I done?!"
"It's okay! It won't happen again! No one knows except us!" Alexia tried but Lane shook her head.
"What if I kill you? What about Moppet?" Lane took out one of her short swords. "I won't let it happen."
"No!" Alexia screamed, running towards Lane, but she stabbed herself in the stomach before Alexia even got close. Falling over, Lane smiled in relief, closing her eyes.
"Sis!" Moppet yelled, running to her side. "W-we can save her, right? Right Alexia?!" Moppet insisted.
"Lane's lost too much blood. She's going to die." Alexia whispered.
"We have to do something!" Moppet claimed.
Alexia bit her lip. Whipping out her itouch, she picked up a page on Ninjago and plugged in Moppet's cell phone. A vortex opened, and with Moppet's help, Alexia threw Lane into it. "This way, once we solve this, she'll be back since she died in a disintegrating dimension."
"Speaking of that-" Moppet pointed to the ground, which was chipping away. Panicking, Alexia pulled up a random page and the vortex changed, sucking them in.